Today's 16 December Major Events in History

Photo for the article Today's 16 December Major Events

533 The Digest is published, codifies the works of classical jurists, commissioned by Eastern Roman Emperor Justinian
653 Eighth Council of Toledo begins at the praetorian church of Saints Peter and Paul in Toledo, will issue the Liber Iudiciorum, a twelve-book law-code under Visigoth King Recceswinth
755 An Lushan revolts against Chancellor Yang Guozhong at Fanyang, initiating the An Lushan Rebellion during the Chinese Tang dynasty

882 Marinus I begins his reign as Catholic Pope succeeding John VIII
1392 Nanboku-chō, Emperor Go-Kameyama of Japan, abdicates in favor of rival claimant Go-Komatsu

King of England and France

1431 King Henry VI of England, aged seven, is crowned King of France at Notre Dame, Paris, becoming the only English monarch to wear both crowns

Gama Sails Africa's East Coast

1497 Portuguese navigator Vasco da Gama is the first European to sail along Africa's East Coast, names it Natal

Pursuit of Protestants

1538 French King Francis I orders a renewed pursuit of Protestants

1575 Valdivia earthquake with estimated 8.5 magnitude takes place, first recorded earthquake in Chile
1577 Danzig rebellion ends in a compromise between the city's nobility and Polish King Stephen Báthory, after the King restored and recognized the city's economic and religious privileges
1598 Battle of Noryang Point: In the final naval battle of the Imjin War, the allied Korean and Chinese fleets decisively defeat the Japanese
1617 Spanish viceroy Hernando Arias de Saavedra founds provinces Rio de la Plata (Argentina)/Guaira (Paraguay)

First Encounter

1620 Myles Standish and a group of 18 settlers are confronted by 30 Native Americans, which became known as the "First Encounter"

1631 Mount Vesuvius in Italy erupts, burying many villages under lava flows and killing around 3,000 people

Cromwell Made Lord Protector

1653 Parliamentarian General Oliver Cromwell appointed as Lord Protector of England, Scotland and Ireland

1659 General George Monck demands free parliamentary election in Scotland
1689 English Parliament passes the Bill of Rights establishing limits on the powers of the crown and the requirement for regular elections
1707 Last recorded eruption of Mount Fuji in Japan.
1740 Prussian Libya falls to Silezie
1761 Seven Years' War: After four-month siege, Russian army under Pyotr Rumyantsev takes Prussian fortress of Kolobrzeg (German: Kolberg).
1767 Van Ritter von Glucks opera "Alceste" premieres

1773 Boston Tea Party incident – Sons of Liberty protesters throw tea shipments into Boston Harbor to protest the British-imposed Tea Act and escalating taxation without representation in the British Parliament

Arkwright's Carding Machine

1775 Englishman Richard Arkwright receives a patent for his carding machine for use in cotton mills

1777 Virginia becomes the first state to ratify the Articles of Confederation (the first US constitution)
1811 Earthquake hits New Madrid, Missouri, causing widespread damage
1817 Leaders of Molukkas uprising hanged in Ambon
1824 Great North Holland Canal opens
1826 Benjamin W. Edwards rides into Mexican controlled Nacogdoches, Texas and declares himself ruler of the Republic of Fredonia.
1835 Fire consumes over 600 buildings in NYC
1838 Battle of Blood River: Zulu impis defeated by Voortrekkers in South Africa (Great Trek)
1850 Ships the Charlotte-Jane and the Randolph bring the first of the Canterbury Pilgrims to Lyttelton, New Zealand
1857 Earthquake in Naples, Italy
1858 Dutch government decides to vacate Schokland Island
1859 Frederiksborg Castle, largest Renaissance complex in Scandinavia, is badly damaged in a fire - later restored and turned into a museum
1862 Kingdom of Nepal accepts its constitution

Confederate Commander Replaced

1863 Braxton Bragg is replaced by Joseph E. Johnston as commander of the Confederate Army of Tennessee

1864 Battle of Nashville ends after 4400 causalities

Symphony No. 3

1877 Anton Bruckner reluctantly steps in to conduct the premiere of his "Symphony No. 3," dedicated to Richard Wagner; it is a critical disaster and undergoes many revisions [1]

1880 Beginning of the First Boer War between British Empire and Boer South African Republic
1880 Transvaal region declares itself as the Republic of South Africa
1883 Tonkin Campaign: The French capture the citadel in Hanoi

Britain Recognizes Congo Free State

1884 Great Britain recognizes King Leopold II's Congo Free State

1886 Rift at Dutch Reformed Church over "Doleantie"
1890 Negro Methodist Episcopal Church founded in Jackson, TN

New World Symphony

1893 Antonín Dvořák's Symphony No. 9 "From the New World" premieres at Carnegie Hall in New York City

1897 1st submarine with an internal combustion engine demonstrated
1899 Italian football club A.C. Milan founded as Milan Foot-Ball and Cricket Club by Englishmen Alfred Edwards and Herbert Kilpin (disputed possibly 13 Dec)
1900 A National Civic Federation is formed in the US to arbitrate labor disputes
1900 Boer army under gen Kritzinger take Cape colony
1901 Boer General Kritzinger captured
1903 Majestic Theater in New York City becomes the first theater in the US to employ women ushers
1903 The Taj Mahal Palace Hotel opens its doors to guests for the first time in Bombay, British India, becoming the first hotel in India to have electricity
1905 "Variety" covering all phases of show business, 1st published

1907 As a gesture of the US's new presence as a world power, President Theodore Roosevelt sends the 'Great White Fleet' on a round-the-world cruise, visiting ports internationally

1907 Swedish-American mezzo-soprano Eugenia Farrar sings the first songs over wireless radio - "I Love You Truly" and "Just A'Wearying For You"- from the Parker Building in New York City
1908 First credit union in the US forms in Manchester, New Hampshire
1909 A conservative revolution and US pressure forces Nicaraguan President Jose Santos from office
1911 UK National Insurance Act becomes law, providing health insurance for industrial workers (about a third of the workforce) [1]
1912 Austria-Hungary engage in conflict with Serbia
1912 First Balkan War: The Ottoman Navy is defeated by the Royal Hellenic Navy at the Battle of Eli
1912 The first US postage stamp picturing an airplane, officially titled "20 Cent US Parcel Post Aeroplane Carrying Mail," is issued

1914 German warships fire more than 500 shells on northern English towns of Scarborough, Whitby and Hartlepool - 1st time English civilians targeted during the war - kill 137 people [1]
1914 World War I: German battleships under Franz Von Hipper bombard the English ports of Hartlepool and Scarborough.
1918 German troops evacuate Finland, give over Kiev in the Ukraine to revolutionary forces and pull back from Estonia as Bolshevik forces move in

Dempsey vs. Morris

1918 Jack Dempsey KOs Carl Morris in 14 seconds in a heavyweight bout in New Orleans

1920 8.5 magnitude earthquake rocks Gansu Province in China, killing an estimated 200,000 people

1921 The Communist Party of South Africa (CPSA) calls for a united front in a pass burning campaign on Dingaan's Day
1922 Mutual Association of Eastern Colored Baseball Clubs formally organizes
1922 NSW all out for 786 against South Australia Cricket

Bingham Serves Shortest Term

1924 Hiram Bingham is elected as a Republican to serve in the US Senate forcing him to resign as Governor of Connecticut after serving only one day in office, the shortest term of any Connecticut Governor

1925 Alpha Phi Omega national service fraternity is founded at Lafayette College.
1926 Darius Milhaud's opera "Le Pauvre Matelot" (The Poor Sailor) premieres in Paris

Commissioner Landis' Contract Renewed

1926 MLB owners renew contract with Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis for a second 7-years term

1926 WOW-AM in Omaha NE begins radio transmissions
1927 Australian cricket's batting maestro Don Bradman makes his 1st-class debut for NSW v South Australia at the Adelaide Oval finishing Day 1 on 65 not out
1929 Chic Blackhawks 1st game at Chicago Stadium, beat Pittsburgh Pirates, 3-1

1st James E. Sullivan Award

1930 Golfer Bobby Jones is the first to win the James E. Sullivan Award for the best US amateur athlete

1931 German SPD begins Iron Front against fascism
1933 Abe de Vries & Sipke Castelein win Elfstedentocht
1936 John Monks and Fred Finklehoff's play "Brother Rat" premieres in New York City
1937 Theodore Cole and Ralph Roe attempt to escape from the American federal prison on Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay; neither man is ever seen again

Cross of Honour of the German Mother

1938 Adolf Hitler institutes the state decoration and civil order of merit, Cross of Honour of the German Mother

1938 State of California executes Ed Davis (38), leader of Folsom Prison escape attempt resulting in murder of warden and guard (San Quentin State Prison, Marin County)

Louis vs. McCoy

1940 Joe Louis KOs Al McCoy in 6th round for heavyweight boxing title in Chicago, Illinois

1940 WWII: British air raid on Mannheim, Germany
1941 Sarawak occupied by Japanese forces
1942 Hitler orders combat against partisans in Russia and the Balkans
1943 "Tamiami Champion" (New York to Florida) trains collide, kills 73 & injures 200
1944 German V-2 strikes Antwerp bioscope (638 kill)
1944 Nazi Germany launches a counteroffensive against the Allies in the Ardennes region of Belgium, beginning the Battle of the Bulge
1944 US 2nd Infantry division occupies "Heartbreak Crossroads" Wahlerscheid
1946 1947 NFL Draft: Bob Fenimore from University of Oklahoma A&M first pick by Chicago Bears

Christian Dior Founded

1946 French fashion designer Christian Dior and his backer Marcel Boussac found fashion house Christian Dior

1946 Thailand joins the United Nations

Shirley Temple Retires

1950 Child star Shirley Temple announces her retirement from films aged 22

Truman Declares State of Emergency

1950 US President Harry Truman proclaims state of emergency against "Communist imperialism"

1951 NBC premiere of "Dragnet" in black and white
1953 Charles E. Yeager flies > 2,575 kph in Bell X-1A
1957 Sir Feroz Khan Noon replaces Ibrahim Ismail Chundrigar as Prime Minister of Pakistan

1958 Ballon d'Or: Real Madrid's French midfielder Raymond Kopa wins award for best football player in Europe ahead of German winger Helmut Rahn and French forward Just Fontaine

1958 Bogota warehouse fire kills 82
1959 Snow falling in Lowarai Pass West Pakistan kills 48
1960 TWA 266 & United 826 collide over Staten Island, kills 134

1962 Nepal establishes its constitution and becomes a Constitutional Hindu Monarchy
1962 NY Giants quarterback Y. A. Tittle sets NFL season touchdown pass record at 33 with 6 touchdowns vs Dallas in 41-31 win
1964 US performs nuclear test at Pacific Ocean
1965 Gemini 6 returns to Earth
1965 Pioneer 6 launched into solar orbit
1965 Taufa'ahau Tupou IV becomes King of Tonga

Hey Joe

1966 Jimi Hendrix Experience releases its 1st single, "Hey Joe" in the UK

1966 The Beatles release "Everywhere it's Christmas" in UK
1967 French film "Playtime", directed by Jacques Tati and starring himself, is released
1967 Wilt Chamberlain of NBA Philadelphia 76ers scores 68 points vs Chicago
1968 KFIZ TV channel 34 in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin begins broadcasting

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

1968 Musical-fantasy film "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang", co-written by Roald Dahl and director Ken Hughes, starring Dick Van Dyke and Sally Ann Howes, with songs by Sherman and Sherman, premieres at the Odeon Leicester Square theater, London

1968 Official revocation of the Edict of Expulsion of Jews from Spain at Second Vatican Council

War is Over! If You Want It

1969 "War is Over! If You Want It, Happy Christmas from John & Yoko" posters, a peace message during the Vietnam War, begin appearing in 12 major cities around the world

1969 British House of Commons votes 343-185 to abolish the death penalty

Hello Dolly

1969 Film adaptation of "Hello Dolly" starring Barbra Streisand premieres; wins 3 Academy Awards

1970 "Love Story" film based on the novel by Erich Segal, directed by Arthur Hiller and starring Ryan O'Neal and Ali McGraw is released
1970 Polish Vice-Prime Minister Stanisław Kociołek, condemns labor protesters and calls for the workers to get back to work, in a televised speech
1970 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1971 Don McLean's 8+ minute version of "American Pie" released
1971 Vijay Diwas (Victory Day): East Pakistan's independence (as Bangladesh) from Pakistan is recognized internationally after India's army occupies Dacca, and 93,000 West Pakistani troops surrender
1972 Bangladesh Constitution goes into effect
1972 Miami Dolphins become the first undefeated NFL team, going 14-0 in the regular season and winning all three postseason games to finish 17-0
1973 O.J. Simpson becomes 1st NFL running back to rush for 2,000 yards in a season
1974 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1974 USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh, Semipalitinsk USSR
1975 1st broadcast of "One Day at a Time" on CBS TV

Veeck Buys White Sox

1975 Bill Veeck buys 80% of MLB Chicago White Sox from John Allyn

1976 Andrew Young named Ambassador & Chief US Delegate to UN
1976 Charlie Finley's $10 million damages suit against Bowie Kuhn begins
1976 Government halts swine flu vaccination program following reports of paralysis
1976 Liberian tanker stranded at Nantucket, 180,000 barrels oil in sea
1978 Cleveland, Ohio becomes the first post-Depression era city to default on its loans, owing $14,000,000 to local banks.

An American Christmas Carol

1979 "An American Christmas Carol" directed by Eric Till starring Henry Winkler premieres in the US

1979 4 British Army soldiers are killed by a PIRA landmine near Dungannon, County Tyrone. Another British Army soldier was killed by a PIRA landmine near Forkill, County Armagh
1979 Dallas QB Roger Staubach throws 3 TDs and 336 yards in his last NFL regular season game with the Cowboys, a 35-34 win over Washington Redskins at Texas Stadium
1979 Libya raises crude oil prices, joining four other OPEC nations, which has a dramatic effect on the United States
1980 President-elect Ronald Reagan announces Alexander Haig Jr. as 59th Secretary of State
1981 Dutch Van Agt's 2nd government falls
1982 The Federal Reserve announces that the operating capacity of factories has gone down to 67.8%.
1983 Riverside, California judge denies cerebral palsy victim Elizabeth Bouviato request to starve herself to death in a county hospital
1983 Spokesperson for rock band "The Who" announces the group is disbanding
1983 Yogi Berra named New York Yankees manager for second time
1985 Challenger moves to Vehicle Assembly Building at Kennedy Space Center (Florida) for mating of STS 51-L mission

Gotti Takes Over Gambino Family

1985 John Gotti assumes leadership of New York's Gambino crime family after ordering the executions of Paul Castellano and Thomas Bilotti

Kazakhstan Revolt

1986 Revolt in Kazakhstan against Communist party, known as Zheltoksan, which becomes the first sign of ethnic strife during Gorbachev's tenure

1987 Roh Tae Woo elected president of South Korea
1988 American political cult leader Lyndon LaRouche convicted of tax and mail fraud
1989 Commencement of 1st Test Cricket play at Bellerive Oval, Hobart (v SL)
1989 Geoff Marsh completes 355* for WA against South Australia
1989 Protest breaks out in Timişoara in response to an attempt by the government to evict dissident Hungarian pastor, László Tőkés.
1990 KUSW, Salt Lake City Utah, final shortwave radio transmissions
1990 Rev. Jean-Bertrand Aristide elected President of Haiti
1991 Independence of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
1991 MLB expansion club Florida Marlins sign their 1st player, 16-year-old pitcher Clemente Nunez
1991 UN reverses ruling that Zionism is racism by 111-25 (13 abstain) vote
1993 Davy Jones of pop band The Monkees is charged with driving while intoxicated near his Beavertown, Pennsylvania home
1993 Shannen Doherty (Brenda) is fired from TV series Beverly Hills 90210

Nirvana's Iconic MTV Unplugged

1993 Television series MTV Unplugged broadcasts American rock band Nirvana performing a mostly acoustic set NYC

1995 The official adoption of the name "Euro"

Clinton Names Buddy

1997 US President Bill Clinton names his chocolate Labrador retriever "Buddy" after his great-uncle, Henry Oren “Buddy” Grisham, who was a significant influence on his life

1998 Iraq disarmament crisis: Operation Desert Fox - the United States and United Kingdom bomb targets in Iraq to degrade its ability to produce, store, maintain, and deliver weapons of mass destruction
2004 NASA's Voyager 1 spacecraft is the first to cross the termination shock, where solar and interstellar winds merge

Bernanke Person of the Year

2009 Ben Bernanke, Chair of the US Federal Reserve is named Time's Person of the Year for rescuing the global economy from the Great Recession

Larry King Live

2010 The final episode of the TV talk show "Larry King Live" airs on CNN

2012 4 people are killed after Cyclone Evan strikes Fiji
2012 A gang rape of a woman on a bus in India that resulted in her death leads to national and international outrage
2012 Corinthians defeat Chelsea 1-0 to win the 2012 FIFA Club World Cup
2013 21 people are killed and 20 are injured after a bus falls from an elevated highway in Manila, Philippines
2013 79th Heisman Trophy Award: Jameis Winston, Florida State (QB)
2014 An Army Public School in Pakistan is attacked by Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan militants who kill 145 people
2014 Thierry Henry announces his retirement as a player and states he will begin working for Sky Sports as a pundit
2015 US Federal Reserve raises interest rates by 0.25% for the first time since 2006
2016 5 day pollution red alert declared in Beijing and 21 other Chinese cities, classified by officials as a “meteorological disaster”

$25 Million for Islamic State Leader

2016 US State Department increases reward for information on Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi to $25 million

2018 Huge explosion and fire in a restaurant in Sapporo, Japan injures 42
2018 Sri Lanka's Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe is sworn back into office two months after being removed by President Sirisena

Brees Sets Touchdown Pass Record

2019 Drew Brees breaks Peyton Manning's NFL record (539) for career touchdown passes as New Orleans Saints rout Indianapolis Colts, 34-7; Brees 29 of 30 for 307 yards & 4 TDs for record 96.7% pass completion

All I Want For Christmas Is You

2019 Mariah Carey's single "All I Want For Christmas Is You" reaches #1, 25 years after its release

2020 14 people found guilty of 2015 terror attacks on Charlie Hebdo office and supermarket in Paris
2020 China blocks imports of coal, from Australia, the world's second biggest market for the world's biggest coal exporter
2020 Major winter storm hits US Northeast resulting in at least seven deaths and Binghamton, New York, receiving record 41 inches of snow
2020 Nine-year-old girl who died of an asthma attack in 2013 becomes first person in the world to officially have air pollution listed as cause of death
2020 US Major League Baseball announces it is elevating the Negro Leagues to Major League status
2021 Six children die in a bouncy castle accident at a school in Devonport, Tasmasia, Australia
2021 Super Typhoon Rai strikes the Philippines' south-eastern islands with winds of 195km/h (120mph), killing at least 375
2022 Japan announces its biggest military build-up since WWII, amid concerns over China and North Korea [1]
2022 Landslide sweeps through a campsite in Batang Kali township, Selangor state, Malaysia, killing at least 21 people during the night [1]
2022 Pokémon producers announce the main characters Ash Ketchum and his Pikachu are departing the anime series after 25 years [1]
2023 61 people drown after a boat carrying migrants capsizes off the coast Zuwara, Libya [1]

Scholz Loses Confidence Vote

2024 German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, at the head of a minority government, loses a no-confidence vote in parliament, making way for early elections [1]

2024 New research indicates 37 Bronze-Age Britons were butchered and cannibalized and their remains thrown down a shaft in Charterhouse Warren in England [1]
2024 Rare school shooting in Wisconsin leaves 1 teacher and one student dead with others injured - rare case of a female carrying out a mass shooting [1]